’90s Star Reveals She ‘Made Nothing’ From Hit Show
The “Saved By The Bell” star revealed what her residual checks look like now.
Saved By The Bell star Tiffani Thiessen, 52, just how little she made from her run on the hit ’90s show.
Thiessen, who was just 15 when she began her four-season run as Kelly Kapowski on Saved by the Bell in 1989, told Page Six Radio that she stopped making money the moment the show ended.
“I think it has dried out,” Thiessen said about checks from residuals. “It’s like, negative now. It costs more to print the check.”
American actress Tiffani Amber Thiessen, plays Kelly Kapowski in the TV show "Saved By The Bell", pose for a portrait in Los Angeles, California in October 1992. (Photo by Bill Nation/Sygma via Getty Images)
William Nation/Getty Images
Her salary on the series, which also starred Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Dustin Diamond, and Elizabeth Berkley, didn’t exactly make her wealthy either, she revealed.
SAVED BY THE BELL -- Season 2 -- Pictured: (l-r) Mario Lopez as Alabert Clifford 'A.C.' Slater, Dennis Haskins as Mr. Richard Belding, Lark Voorhies as Lisa Turtle, Tiffani Thiessen as Kelly Kapowski, Elizabeth Berkley as Jessie Spano, Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Zachary 'Zach' Morris, Dustin Diamond as Screech Powers -- Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank
NBC/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
“We didn’t have pull on that show at all,” Thiessen said. “We made nothing, and we just did our job… When we went primetime for one season, we got a little bit more.”
Thiessen went on to star in Beverly Hills, 90210 from 1994 to 1998, which she said offered some respite. “I didn’t start making real money until I went to 90210,” she added.
Thiessen currently stars in "Coven Academy."
Raymond Hall/GC Images
Thiessen played more major roles in film and television through the early 2000s, before hosting her own cooking show, Dinner at Tiffani’s, in 2015 and later MTV’s food show Deliciousness from 2015 to 2017. She currently stars in Freeform’s Coven Academy.
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